Head in the Trees, Heart a Little Lower
by LittleCheshireKitten
Summary: A stupid dare ends Cody up in a tree. But it turns out that certain tree has Noah reading under it. Cody can't bring himself to climb down now, so he stays and watches.


**Head in the Trees, Heart a Little Lower**

**I'm on my phone right now, but I promise I'll make this better tomorrow. I don't really know what made me write this ahah.**

A dare is a stupid thing. So why did Cody accept it in the first place? Maybe it had to do with the fact that he wanted to impress Gwen, even if she told him that following through would just be plain stupid. There was a reason that a sleeping bear was something everyone knew not to mess with. So why did Cody find himself doing the same dare Owen did a while back? Give a sleeping bear a purple nurple. How stupid. How dangerous more like it. And then he was being chased by an angry bear. It wouldn't be the first time, but it wasn't as if he had gotten used to it either.

The furious animal raced past him as Cody took refuge in a tree. He didn't get the chance to climb very far, but he was high enough to see the other guys laughing and a few of the girls slightly worried. It was when the adrenaline started to wear off that he noticed the splinters that littered his hands from his rush to scramble up the tree. The boy silenced his exclamations of pain as he pulled out shards of bark from his palm. His hand began to bleed in a few places as well. Maybe that was when he started to realize that this dare was a lot more than it was worth. He hadn't even bothered to make it a bet before he ran off to find the sleeping beast, so there wasn't even a reward waiting for him. He turned back to see that the others were already sitting in a circle, chattering about something else as they waited for his return.

As he turned to make his descent from the tree, Cody noticed something else. It was a person. A person who was laying back against the tree as he read his book. His hair was a dark brown color, far darker than Cody's. His skin matched his hair, but not quite as dark if course. He wore a sweater vest over a blue collared shirt on top of a white long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Noah. Cody wasn't sure what it was about the know-it-all that suddenly made him stop and stare. Cody hushed his still labored breathing. He couldn't see much from the branch he sat on, but he didn't dare try to climb down now. The noise would surely disturb Noah, and he looked so peaceful as his eyes scanned the page. Noah's face softened as he flipped the pages, he no longer wore his usual scowl, in fact he seemed almost relaxed. Besides, Cody's hands were bloody and sore, so perhaps he should stay a bit longer. Or maybe he spoke too soon.

Cody's hands felt numb now as he only focused on the boy below. That was until a drop of crimson that had collected on his finger tip ruined it. The drop of blood landed on Noah's book. Noah didn't waste a second as his head shot up to see Cody right above him. The gap-toothed boy blushed as he finally made his way to the ground. He wiped his hand on his pants which created a red mark on his right pocket.  
"I,umm, s-sorry about your book-"  
Cody stopped stammering when he saw Noah shake his head dismissively with a bored expression. That was all Cody needed before he reluctantly ran off to join the teens who were no doubt still waiting for him.

"Dude, where've you been?"  
Cody knew Geoff's question would be the first.  
"In a tree, thanks to your dare,"  
It wasn't a lie. Sure, he remained in that tree for a different reason, but the dare was truthfully the reason he climbed up there.  
"Cody, you're hand's all bloody, what happened?" Bridgette began to wash off all of the dried blood. She looked concerned as she emptied the water bottle over Cody's hand.  
"Trees, splinters," Cody explained simply.  
As his hand was being bandaged, he received a few high fives and praises from everyone for his feat. But all he could think about was Noah.

Why did I come? Why am I here? That was all Cody really thought as he came to a familiar spot in the woods, walking this time. It was not only just about a twenty minute walking distance from the camp, but Cody now realized why one might choose that particular spot to read at. It was a big clearing with only one big tree in the middle which provided a perfect shady seat from the sun above. The miles of trees blocked out the sounds of the careless campers and all that could be heard was the occasional call of a woodland creature and the mysterious sound of rushing water which would be heard all around, yet there was no sign of where it was coming from. Snapping back to reality, Cody began to climb back up the tree to his perch from the previous day. He was mindful of his hand which caused him more difficulty in scaling the tree. And then he waited.

Why did he ever think this was a good idea? Cody wasn't sure how long he waited but there was still no sign of the cynical boy. Come to think of it, Cody had never noticed Noah come out here before, he never really noticed anything Noah did before. So what if coming here to read was only a one time thing? Even worse, what if Noah decided to stop coming here because of Cody? What if- But there he was. Noah, clutching the book he always had with him, slowly made his way to the spot he had claimed before. His face lacked the expression he always wore as he sat down and flipped to a page with a dog-eared corner. But before his eyes set in the words printed across the page, they looked up, landing right on Cody.

There was no emotion on Noah's face as he stared blankly at Cody. Before the nervous boy could give any sort of explanation, Noah dropped his head back down and began to read as if Cody wasn't there. Just as he did yesterday, Cody found himself watching Noah with a sudden interest as if he were the most magnificent sight that Cody had ever seen, and maybe he was. There was something about it that made him sit there and watch as Noah flipped the pages of his book. It wasn't known exactly how long both of the boys sat there. Cody insisted to himself that it hadn't been more than a few minutes, but the significant amount of pages passed over before Noah creased the corner of one told a different story. Once Noah straightened himself out, he stood there staring at the gap-toothed boy as if he was waiting for him, and he was. Cody only had to sit for another minute before he finally understood and sheepishly began to climb down. The two then started to walk back to camp where it would surely be dinner time when they arrived. Cody wanted to make a comment about something irrelevant just to start a conversation, but something told him that Noah would prefer to walk in silence.

A few days had gone by, each one with the same routine. Cody always walked to the same clearing and climbed the same tree to wait for the same boy who read the same old book. Cody never really questioned why he went everyday, he just did it. He never even wondered why he was so interested in the know-it-all, and he never really cared. Never until today. Cody always sat there in the tree as Noah read in silence, when the day was done, Noah would stand with his book and stare up at Cody until the boy snapped out of his daze, and they would walk back to camp together without a word. Noah never asked Cody why he was there or what he wanted, and Cody never asked Noah what book he was reading or why he was always alone. They seemed to coexist, doing their own thing with some sort of connection, yet they never actually considered themselves as doing something together all the while. Sure they were at the same place at the same time and sure Cody was watching Noah as he did what he did, but, well, they couldn't really explain it if they tried. But that was until today.

Cody walked the familiar path that he had so many times before. He didn't have to wait long before Noah mirrored his steps and sat under the tree as Cody watched from above. But the gap-toothed boy knew there was something different when the book worm looked up at him before opening his book. Noah never gave even a small glance at Cody until it was time to go. By then, something even more shocking had happened. Noah sat down, still looking up and Cody, his face was blank as it always was. It made Cody nervous and their lack of verbal communication didn't help. That was until Noah pat the space beside him, beckoning Cody to sit with him. It took long enough before Cody finally got the message and nervously climbed down. Noah's eyes were glued to him as he sat down on the ground. Cody pulled his feet up to his chest, unsure of what to do next as he tried to keep a safe distance from Noah just in case the chocolate-haired boy would get uncomfortable.

That was when Noah gestured him to come even closer. By then, Cody was still a bit confused and unsure about the sudden change, but he didn't object, it felt nice sitting next to Noah for once. The know-it-all continued his hand gestures until Cody was practically on top of him. Cody wondered how a day could bring so many unexpected yet pleasant surprises. As if the day was challenging him, Noah held his book with one hand as he snaked the other around Cody's waist. The bookworm continued to read as if it were a normal thing to do. The warmth of Noah's body -not to mention the inviting scent of strawberries that lingered around the boy- compelled Cody to lay his head on Noah's shoulder as the cynic flipped the pages of his book with added difficulty from the aid of only one hand. The tech-geek tried to read along but Noah was just too fast of a reader, flipping the page before Cody was even halfway through.

Somewhere between his thoughts and contentment, Cody must have fallen asleep, because when his eyes flickered open, he wasn't sitting between the roots of a tree in his -dare he say crush's- arms. Well, you could say he still was. He found himself being carried bridal style in very much less than strong arms with the sweet smell of strawberries still around him. Cody was never too heavy so even lacking upper body strength, Noah could easily carry him. Cody decided it was best to pretend he was still asleep, so he closed his eyes, but not before sneaking a glance at Noah's brown ones. Cody could hear Noah's heartbeat and feel Noah's chest expand with every breath, it was soothing, almost enough to put him to sleep again. Cody also noticed a book resting on his stomach, though he should add that he barely saw it. Since when had it been night time? And they were still in the woods. Had Noah skipped dinner because carrying Cody had taken him too long?

There was no time to feel guilt because before he knew it, he was being laid down on a bed that he didn't recognize as his own. The pillow had a very familiar scent. Was he in Noah's bed? Cody curled up into the warmth of the blanket that was pulled over him. As if that wasn't enough, he felt Noah's lips softly brush over his forehead. If it wasn't so dark, the blush that rose over his cheeks would have been very visible. Cody risked a peek only to see Noah's frame tiptoeing through the doorway as if trying not to wake Cody up. A few minutes passed- or was it a few hours, he didn't know- before the boy in the sweater vest returned with something in his hands. There was some light from the tray in Noah's hands in the form of a dancing flame. After setting the plate on the table, Noah was quick to leave again. Once he was sure Noah had left, Cody took a look at the contents of the tray on the nightstand with the minimal lighting from the candle.

The first thing that caught his attention was a note folded in half placed neatly in front of the candle. Inside was very neat writing which read,  
Cody,  
You fell asleep by the tree so I carried you back to camp. Your cabin's been destroyed apparently so I just left you in my bed, hope that's ok. I know you'll probably be hungry since you skipped dinner so I brought you something to eat. I'll be back in a while.  
- Noah  
Cody gratefully began devouring the food left for him, truthfully he was very hungry having skipped lunch. Once his stomach was content, he debated on going to sleep right away. Maybe Noah would change his mind and want his bed back. But Cody decided Noah wasn't like that, so he blew out the candle and snuggled back into Noah's bed which was far more comfortable than his own.

Noah received more than enough suggestive looks from the other campers as he sat down to eat his own late dinner. Everyone knew about Cody and Noah, they all saw both of the boys walking from the forest together every day. Yet, Noah ignored them and continued to eat. He took his time, not wanting to come back to an awake Cody which would cause a bit if awkwardness. As he once again paid no attention to the cat calls behind him, Noah cautiously peered into the cabin. The flame that licked at the candle wax had been blown out but the faint smell of smoke still remained. Noah cursed the creaking floorboards as he finally made his way over to the bed. Cody's eyes were fluttered shut, but he was still awake enough to notice Noah's presence.

Cody pretended to be fast asleep, he seemed to be doing that quite a bit lately. He wasn't so tired as he just woke up from an earlier nap. That was when he felt the bed sink at the edge. It didn't take much to realize that Noah was stepping on the bed in a quite clumsy way. He finally managed to get under the covers when Cody seemed to stir in his sleep. Noah was afraid he might have woken the boy only to be met with Cody's head on his chest as he snuggled up to Noah. Even if he hadn't been awake, Cody was naturally a sleep cuddler. In return, Noah wrapped his arms around Cody as well. And that's how the fell asleep. Noah knew how much pestering this would bring him in the morning, but for the first time, he couldn't bring himself to care.  
-

**This is the first fic I have published so please review and tell me how I did. Also, with the sound if rushing water thing, I had an idea if I ever did another chapter, but I'm not sure if I frankly should write it. Would you guys be interested in another chapter?**


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